The XL7's recoil pad is pretty decent.
Out of all the rifles in my safe, I'd say it's the best by far.

To me, your recoil aversion seems more like a problem with technique, than actual recoil.
Make sure you tuck the rifle into your shoulder well, and keep it there.
The biggest problem I see with people that have serious recoil aversion, is that they get in the bad habit of letting less powerful rifles free-recoil into their shoulder (.22s, .223s, .243s, etc). That bad habit gets carried over to the bigger stuff, and causes serious problems. Even if it's only 1/8", it increases perceived recoil, substantially.
Keep it tucked in there, nice and snug. Don't go gorilla on the thing, trying to hold it as tight as possible. Just make sure it's nice and snug against your shoulder. That XL7 recoil pad is all you should need (it's a really good recoil pad).

For a time, my XL7 weighed nearly 10 lbs. (Boyd's stock and heavy Bushnell scope.)
At that weight, it seemed to have much more felt recoil than the stock (and current) form's 7.7 lbs. Even with more than 2 lbs added to the rifle, the Boyds' recoil pad was very much inferior.

Work on technique. It will pay off in the long run, and help you with everything you shoot.

__________________"Such is the strange way that man works -- first he virtually destroys a species and then does everything in his power to restore it."